Month: November 2024

RUCARR seminar with Esma Berikshvili – The Affect of Lost Infrastructure and Informal Economic Practices in the Port City of Poti, Georgia

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The City of Eternal Promises – The Affect of Lost Infrastructure and Informal Economic Practices in the Port City of Poti, Georgia

Esma Berikishvili, a visiting PhD student from Ilia State University, will give a seminar titled: “The City of Eternal Promises – The Affect of Lost Infrastructure and Informal Economic Practices in the Port City of Poti, Georgia”. This talk will explore the impact of post-Rose Revolution reforms on Poti, a Georgian port city, through an ethnographic and anthropological lens and critically examine the socio-economic and political transformations following the 2003 neoliberal reforms, including the privatization of Poti’s port and the establishment of a Free Industrial Zone (FIZ). These state-led modernization efforts, aimed at fostering economic growth, fell short of their promises, leading to failed investments, economic decline, and precarious livelihoods. The seminar will highlight how Poti’s residents adapt to these changes through informal maritime economic practices like fishing, fish-smoking, and scrap metal collection, revealing resilience and ingenuity amid structural challenges.

When: December,3, 15.15 – 17.00

 Where: Seminar room, 9th floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/66778170406, Meeting ID: 667 7817 0406

RUCARR seminars with Prof. Oliver Reisner – November 12 and 26

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Prof. Oliver Reisner, Ilia State University, Tbilisi, visiting researcher at RUCARR, will give two seminars. Welcome to join us on campus or Zoom:

Social Cohesion and Political Developments in Georgia in Times of Democratic Backsliding and Growing Authoritarianism

When: November 12, 15.00 – 17.00
Hybrid seminar: Seminar room, 9th  floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/68228687099, Meeting ID: 682 2868 7099

Golden or Pink – Stalin as an Embattled Memory Site, or How to Cope with a Traumatic Past in Post-Soviet Georgia

When: November 26, 15.00 – 17.00
Hybrid seminar:Seminar room, 9th  floor, Niagara, Nordenskiöldsgatan 1
Or Zoom: https://mau-se.zoom.us/j/69679035449 Meeting ID: 696 7903 5449

 Short Bio

Since September 2016 Oliver Reisner works as Jean Monnet Professor in European & Caucasian Studies at Ilia State University and teaches courses for BA, MA and PhD students with majors in “European Studies” and “Caucasian Studies.” In 2000 he graduated with a Dr. phil. in Eastern European History, Slavic Studies and Medieval and Modern History from Georg August University Goettingen (Germany). 2000 – 2003 he prepared and coordinated a MA program “Central Asia/Caucasus” at the Department for Central Asian Studies at Humboldt University in Berlin. 2003 – 2005 as a human rights program manager for World Vision Georgia he implemented a civic integration project in Samtskhe-Javakheti and Kvemo Kartli regions of Georgia. 2005 – 2015 as project manager at the EU Delegation to Georgia he dealt with democratisation, minority, education, youth, labour and social affairs. In 25 years of research on Russian, Georgian, Caucasian history and contemporary affairs in theory and practice he covered topics of 1) Nation-building and identity in the Caucasus during the 19th and 20th centuries; 2) Memory studies on dealing with the Soviet past in Georgia and the Caucasus; 3) History of Caucasian Studies as area studies and 4) the role of religion in Georgia.